Thakins

Dobama Asiayone, commonly known as the Thakins, was a Burmese nationalist group formed in the 1930s by young, disgruntled intellectuals. Its members used the name thakin ("master", used to refer to the British) as their honorific title, and its founders rejected compromise with British authorities. Prominent Thakins included Aung San and U Nu, and, in April 1941, small groups of young Thakins left Burma to secretly obtain military training from Japan to fight the British during World War II. The "Thirty Comrades" spearheaded the formation of the "Burma National Army" during the war, and it would fight for Japan before defecting to the Allies at the end of the war.